“… do you not know that the Lord's people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! (1 Corinthians 6:2-3)

Ask most Christians to think about the qualities the Bible lists that Christian leaders should have and the majority will likely think of the apostle Paul’s instructions regarding the qualifications for elders (1 Timothy 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9) and deacons (1 Timothy 3:8-13). But are those the only relevant qualities that most Christians should try to emulate in terms of Christian leadership? They are certainly valuable qualities to which we should all aspire, but sometimes we may think only of these elder-deacon qualities and miss an important lesson in scripture.

Not all will be elders or deacons in their Christian lives, but Paul’s words to the Corinthians, quoted above, show that all Christians are called to eventually judge. Paul stresses that we should be able to judge small matters in this life, in our families and perhaps work and other contexts. So what are the biblical requirements for a judge? Read this week's article: "Why You Need the Qualities and Qualifications of a Judge"